Why Climate Change Triggers Anxiety

Why does climate change trigger anxiety and affect our mental health? In this episode of Why Do We Do That?, Dr Trudy Machanino explores climate anxiety, eco-anxiety and the psychology behind how we cope with anxiety when faced with global issues that can feel overwhelming.

Why can we care deeply about climate change one moment, then find ourselves switching off from it completely? And why are threats like climate change so difficult for our brains to process?

Dr Machanino explains how climate psychology can help us understand our response to these risks, from psychological coping mechanisms such as avoidance and denial to the stress created by uncertainty. She also explores why climate change can feel so vast and distant that it's difficult to comprehend, and how this can contribute to feelings of anxiety, helplessness and powerlessness.
We also look at what eco-anxiety actually means and the wider emotions associated with environmental anxiety, including sadness, grief, anger, guilt and feeling powerless. Dr Machanino explains why these feelings aren't necessarily negative – and how anxiety about climate change can sometimes become the motivation for positive action.

The conversation explores different ways of coping with anxiety, including emotional engagement, taking meaningful action and self-care. We also discuss the window of tolerance, how doom-scrolling and constant exposure to negative news can affect mental health, and how recognising when you're becoming overwhelmed can help you step away and reset.

Finally, we ask how individual action can make a difference, why connecting with other people can reduce feelings of powerlessness, and how we can stay engaged with climate change without feeling like we have to carry the weight of the entire problem ourselves.

🎓 Study psychology with The Open University: https://www.open.ac.uk/courses/choose/psychology

Chapters:
0:00 Can eco-anxiety lead to positive action?
0:32 Why climate change can feel overwhelming
1:24 Why we struggle with long-term global risks
2:34 What is a hyperobject?
3:20 Psychological defences: avoidance and denial
4:48 What is eco-anxiety?
5:53 How climate anxiety differs around the world
7:24 Are we already experiencing climate change?
8:18 Individual action vs systemic change
9:14 Can small actions really make a difference?
10:37 How uncertainty creates stress
11:08 Three psychological coping mechanisms
12:19 What is ontological security?
13:36 How to cope with eco-anxiety
14:19 Emotional engagement and anxiety
15:18 Taking action against feelings of powerlessness
15:53 Understanding your window of tolerance
17:01 Self-care and knowing when to switch off
18:10 Can eco-anxiety be a positive thing?
19:42 Doom-scrolling and mental health
20:30 Staying informed without becoming overwhelmed
21:42 When does climate activism become too much?
22:56 Small actions and regaining a sense of control
23:36 Why our brains sometimes need to switch off
#ClimateAnxiety #MentalHealth #ClimatePsychology #EcoAnxiety #WhyDoWeDoThat